Roche denies taking EPO
By Johnny Watterson and Paddy Agnew
3/1/00: Irish cyclist Stephen Roche, who won the 1987 Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and World Championship, yesterday denied that he had ever used the performance enhancing substance erythropoetin (EPO).
"Never. Never," said Roche when asked directly yesterday if he had ever taken the drug. "I know I can sleep at night. I know in my heart and mind nothing can come back to haunt me because nothing is there. No one can produce anything," Roche added.
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"It is sad to see it coming out like this. I know in my mind nothing can come out to hurt me. It is frustrating but there is nothing to say I took EPO. My haemocrit levels (an indication of the number of red blood cells in the blood) were never beyond the illegal limit of 50 per cent. That is the way it is. What can you do? Sean Kelly tested positive twice and his image is still intact . . . whether you take it or not people are always suspicious," said Roche.